(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – April 06, 2026) Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the American Society for Hematology (ASH) and the Munich Leukemia Laboratory have developed a data-sharing platform that unites genomics, gene expression and clinical information from nearly 6,000 patients with blood cancers. By integrating large pediatric and adult datasets, the ASH HematOmics Program (ASHOP) provides one of the most comprehensive blood cancer data collections to date, with built-in analysis tools. ASHOP enables researchers to explore these datasets together in a single open resource, accelerating discovery in hematological malignancies. The platform and its initial findings were published today in Blood.
"Large genomic, transcriptomic and clinical datasets for blood cancers have been generated across many studies, but they have remained disconnected," said senior co-corresponding author Xin Zhou , PhD, St. Jude Department of Computational Biology . "ASHOP brings these data together into one accessible platform so researchers can look at hematological malignancies more holistically and analyze them deeper to make novel discoveries."
The platform includes data from 5,960 patients across multiple blood cancers, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. It combines whole genome sequencing, whole transcriptome sequencing and connected clinical outcomes from these samples in one place. Within the platform, users can leverage built-in tools to explore that data, whether looking at cancer types and subtypes, comparing patient groups, or investigating connected clinical outcomes, to perform complex analyses that were not possible before.
"ASHOP is much more than a collection of hematology data; it's an interactive tool and resource that allows users to interrogate the data without the need for advanced coding skills," said Robert Negrin, MD, ASH president. "Genomic sequencing has been pivotal in driving advancements in hematologic conditions, and this database empowers the hematology community to explore genomic variants, interpret clinical correlations and uncover potential therapeutic targets."
ASHOP can be accessed at https://ashop.hematology.org .
Platform reveals new insights into blood cancers from existing data
"Our vision is that ASHOP will provide a user-friendly portal for the sophisticated interrogation of genomic and associated data, not just from cancers, but eventually from the full range of hematological disorders," said co-corresponding author Charles Mullighan , MBBS (Hons), MSc, MD, St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center deputy director and Department of Pathology member. "This study represents an important first step that shows the feasibility and power of the approach."
Using the ASHOP platform, the researchers showed how combining genetic and gene‑expression data can reveal important differences between patients that are not obvious otherwise. In one example, they identified two developmental subgroups within a form of childhood B-cell leukemia, one of which had more immature, inflammation‑associated cancer cells, specific gene mutations and worse outcomes. In another example, they found that adult patients with NPM1‑mutated acute myeloid leukemia could be divided into groups with different HOX gene activity, mutation patterns and levels of cell maturity, suggesting differences in disease behavior and treatment resistance. Together, these examples illustrate how the portal helps researchers uncover biologically and clinically meaningful leukemia subtypes that may guide future research and patient care.
"With the rapid expansion of genomic and transcriptomic data, the challenge in hematology is no longer generating data, but integrating and interpreting it," said co-corresponding author Ilaria Iacobucci , PhD, St. Jude Department of Pathology. "The combined multi-omics and clinical data from the ASH HematOmics Program enable new questions to be explored, advancing our understanding of hematological disease biology and therapeutic response."
"Powered by the pioneering St. Jude team and ASH, the ASH HematOmics platform is an open and interactive resource that brings advanced integrative analyses of leukemia to individual clinicians and researchers," said co-corresponding author Torsten Haferlach, MD, PhD, Munich Leukemia Laboratory. "Munich Leukemia Laboratory is proud to contribute data and expertise to help translate these rich genomic and clinical datasets into better insights and care for patients."
Authors and funding
The study's co-first authors are Congyu Lu and Gavriel Matt, St. Jude. The study's other authors are Robin Paul, Jian Wang, Edgar Sioson, Karishma Gangwani, Aleksandar Acić, Andrew Willems, Airen Zaldívar Peraza, Colleen Reilly, Petri Pölönen, Qingsong Gao, Qian Li, Stanley Pounds, Sihan Li and Samuel Brady, St. Jude; Andy Zeng, University of Toronto; and Niroshan Nadarajah, Munich Leukemia Laboratory.
The study was supported by the American Society for Hematology (ASH) and the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC), the fundraising and awareness organization of St. Jude.
